Volleyball Ends Season with Sweep of Bulls

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The West Virginia University volleyball team defeated Buffalo, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-21), on Saturday afternoon in its season finale.

“I thought Buffalo played great tonight,” says coach Jill Kramer. “They served really tough and played great defense. We were down by at least four at one point or another in each set, but our team stuck together, stayed composed and played disciplined in clutch time.”

The sweep was West Virginia’s 11th sweep win of the season.

The Mountaineers (20-13, 5-11 Big 12) finished the year with its first 20-win season since 1991, and coach Kramer recorded her 50th career win in the victory over the Bulls.

“(Sophomore setter) Brittany Sample did a great job of spreading the offense out and giving everybody good looks,” Kramer says. “There were a couple of times throughout the match that our passing broke down a bit, but she continued to keep us in tempo.”

West Virginia freshman outside hitter Jordan Anderson led all players with 17 kills and just two errors for a .429 attack percentage. Sample dished 40 assists while helping the Mountaineers record a .327 hitting percentage for the match.

The Mountaineers fell behind in the first set. The Bulls held a 20-16 advantage late in the set, but WVU claimed nine of the final 12 points in the set to win the first game 25-23. West Virginia posted a .395 team hitting percentage in the set, behind 14 assists from Sample.

Buffalo jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the second. The Mountaineers settled down, though, and led by as many as five, 15-10. They were able to hold off a late comeback from Buffalo to win the second game 25-23.

Anderson added seven more kills in the third set. The Mountaineers held the Bulls to just a .167 hitting clip. WVU senior outside hitter Elzbieta Klein recorded a kill on the final swing of the season to give West Virginia a 25-21 set win to complete the sweep.

Sophomore libero Anna Panagiotakopoulos had 12 digs in the match, and senior defensive specialist Liz Gulick chipped in nine digs in her final match as a Mountaineer.

“Our improvement this year is 100 percent on the team. They are committed to pursuing excellence and our staff is committed to giving them all of the tools they need to do so,” Kramer says. “The time and effort they put into their spring and summer workouts gave us a tremendous foundation to build on. We are just getting started with this young group. I have so much faith in them and all we can accomplish together.”

West Virginia set many firsts in 2013, including the best start in program history (10-0) and the most wins in a single season since 1991.